“Yeah,” Eddy grumbled. “We still don’t know the connection.”
“But that’s it, then,” I said. “That’s what’s wrong with Val. Dr. Sweet did something to her.”
“That’s not Mom,” Elisa snapped with a surprising ferocity. “That’s Grandpa.”
And just when I thought I’d figured things out, I was lost again. Both of Elisa’s grandfathers were dead. My father had died before she was born, and Val had killed hers just last year. (Don’t judge her. He’d tried to kill her first.) A crime lord and supervillain, he’d gone by the name Mr. Lucifer and had the power to possess people…
I thought back to the sneer that had looked so wrong on Val’s face and remembered where I’d seen it before.
“How did he survive?” I asked. “He was shot in the chest. We all went to the funeral.”
“I don’t know.” Elisa raised a fist like she was going to pound something before remembering her super-strength and letting it fall. “He thought I wouldn’t notice—that he could just walk up to me, and I wouldn’t realize something was wrong with my own mother. I didn’t even need telepathy to see that! Stupid old bastard.”
Normally, I’d scold her for that kind of language, but in this case, I completely agreed. What kind of sick bastard possessed his own daughter?
I leaned back against the uncomfortable wall of the van and took a moment to absorb it all. At least I knew now. The reason Val had returned to crime was horrifying, but I’d rather know the awful truth than be stuck in a purgatory of uncertainty. Understanding the problem was the first step in solving it. Now, if only I could figure out step two.
I looked around the van. “What’s your plan?”
“Same as the plan for my mother,” Jocelyn answered. “We need to apprehend her before the DSA does—they’ll only be interested in killing her or locking her up, not helping her. We have exatrin—”
“You stole exatrin.” The cheer in Eddy’s voice sounded forced, but at least he was trying. “Let’s not downplay your accomplishments. I’ll make villains out of you two yet.”
Exatrin was a drug that nullified psychic powers—a must-have if you were planning on kidnapping a telepath.
Julio scowled at Eddy, but Jocelyn just smiled serenely. “We stole exatrin, so we’ll be able to hold her safely until… Until we figure out how to help her.” Her jaw set in determination, her thoughts obviously on her mother.
“We’re hoping Elisa’s telepathy can help with that,” Julio added.
“Or Aunt Bianca and Aunt Sonia.” Elisa slouched and picked at a spot on the carpet. “They’re up north trying to stop Grandpa from expanding his territory.”
Sure, the second half of the plan sounded vague, but it was more of a plan than I had at the moment.
“Count me in,” I said.
Elisa straightened up and smiled brightly, while Jocelyn glanced at Julio. Julio surveyed me, his brows drawing together. “Are you sure you’re up for it? How long have you been awake?”
I bit back my immediate response of “I’m fine.” Saying that when I wasn’t truly recovered didn’t make me tough; it made me an idiot who’d get my team killed when my body betrayed me at the wrong moment.
“I’m getting dizzy spells occasionally,” I said. “The doc says it’s a normal side effect. Worst case scenario, I can wait in the van as backup.”
Julio thought about it for a moment and then nodded. I left it at that, knowing it was his decision, not mine. There had been some bumps on the road of my accepting that Julio was no longer my sidekick but a hero in his own right, but I’d like to think I’d come to terms with it. Anyway, Julio hadn’t been completely out of the loop for a month, so he was better suited to calling the shots.
Eddy drove us down a street of older neighborhoods, rundown strip malls, and small churches that were quiet in the early hour. Then he turned down a driveway almost hidden by trees. I spotted a chain-link fence surrounding the lot, overgrown with vines and leaves, but the thick woods around the property did a better job of protecting it. No one would be able to see us from the road, which was a definite plus for wanted fugitives—especially when of us had very distinctive blue wings.
We all climbed out of the van, Eddy using crutches and moving gingerly.
“What happened?” I asked in a low voice. “Are you alright?”
“We’re not all bulletproof,” he said with a grunt. “Don’t worry. I dished out a lot more than I took.”
We stumbled into a small house Eddy confirmed was one of Val’s. Everyone had already claimed the bedrooms, and though Julio tried to give his up, I settled onto the couch and refused to be moved. I doubted I’d be getting much sleep anyway.
The safehouse being one of Val’s meant it was stocked with pajamas and other clothing in my size, which was good since I had nothing but the shirt on my back. I was too tired to do much other than change and brush my teeth, and it seemed everyone else felt the same. They stumbled around blearily, not speaking except for a muffled “sorry” when they bumped into each other in the narrow hallway. Lights gradually turned off, and one by one, they bid goodnight. I still had more questions about what I’d missed, but it was nothing that couldn’t wait until after we’d gotten some sleep.
Or so I thought until Julio, hair wet from the shower and wearing pajama pants and a T-shirt, settled into the armchair across from me with a serious expression on his face. “We should get something out of the way,” he said.
I straightened up, muting the TV I’d been watching at a low volume. “What’s on your mind?”
He studied me carefully for a second. “I’ve been letting Elisa join us on missions, and you’re not happy about it.”
It was my turn to study him now. His shoulders were tight, but his eye-contact didn’t waver, like he was expecting a confrontation and didn’t plan on backing down from it.
“I’m not going to pretend this is what I want for my daughter,” I said.
“I know. And I didn’t make the decision to let her help lightly. But she has the drive and the powers to make a difference. If you want her to stop… Well, that’s something we need to talk about.”
I leaned back against the couch cushion, taking more from what he hadn’t said than what he had. He hadn’t agreed to bench Elisa if that was what I wanted. She wasn’t eighteen yet, so theoretically, I should have the final say as her parent. But we were a rogue vigilante group here, so laws didn’t exactly apply.
Was I okay with Elisa being a part of this? Even waiting in the van put her too close to psychos like Mr. Lucifer, and that wasn’t even thinking about the legal ramifications if we were caught. She’d be tried as a minor, but with powers like hers, they wouldn’t be able to hold her in a juvenile detention center. The only option was the Inferno.
Bile threatened to rise up my throat, and I swallowed.
“When I woke up from the coma…” I started, “I didn’t know where she was. I called Val, her, you—no answer. Even the number Dr. Quevedo gave me went to voicemail.”
“I’m sorry.” Julio dropped his gaze. “The burner phone got left behind when we switched safehouses. We were afraid the last one was compromised—long story. I should’ve given your doctor a new number, but I had other priorities, and…” He rubbed his forehead. “Honestly, it didn’t look like you were going to wake up.”
I nodded, able to handle my own brush with death infinitely better than the thought of anything happening to Elisa. “When I found out Dr. Sweet was in town, well, you can imagine what was going through my head. To find out Elisa was safe, that she had you and Eddy looking after her… Right now, I’m just glad she’s okay.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to her, either.”
“I know.” I took a deep breath. “And I can’t promise I’ll be okay with her helping out. It would depend on the specifics of the mission and how much risk there is. But I can promise to talk it out reasonably with you—and her, because she should really be a part of this conver
sation.”
“That’s fair,” Julio said, sagging as the tension drained from his shoulders. Without his mask, the dark circles under his eyes were more obvious.
“Get some sleep,” I said. “You’ll still have the weight of the world on your shoulders tomorrow, but you’ll be able to carry it better.”
Giving me a crooked smile, he said goodnight.
After he left, I unmuted the TV but barely paid attention to it. The life of a vigilante on the run wasn’t what I wanted for Elisa, and I didn’t like Julio being forced into it any better. He’d had a bright future ahead of him in the DSA. I couldn’t blame him for choosing to leave it all behind. If I were in his shoes, I’d have done the same, but I still regretted the consequences he'd face.
I tried paying attention to the news on TV, hoping to catch up on what I’d missed while in the coma. They were endlessly discussing and analyzing the same story, though: Raymond Decker, a presidential candidate with special abilities. He had enhanced hearing and had worked as a DSA agent specializing in reconnaissance before moving into politics. It was a non-threatening yet respectable ability that didn’t visibly mutate him in any way. People said he had a shot at winning, which would make him the first president with superpowers. (Openly, anyway. People had their theories about Roosevelt.)
Decker was coming to Miami for a fundraise in a few days, which I might find mildly interesting if I didn’t have about a hundred other things to worry about. I was about to find a sitcom rerun to try and distract myself with when Elisa crept into the room. Dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, she hesitated in the doorway with her shoulders curled in, sniffing. I couldn’t see her face in the dim light from the TV screen, but I didn’t need that to know she’d been crying.
I scooted over and patted the couch cushion next to me. She hurried forward and buried her face in my chest, sniveling as I wrapped my arm around her.
“I thought—” She hiccupped. “I thought you weren’t going to wake up.”
I rubbed her back soothingly. Four weeks of her father being in a coma and her mother possessed by her evil grandfather—she was past due for a good cry. The best thing I could do was be there for her as she let it all out.
“It’s okay,” I said, once she’d made it through the worst of it, and her sobs had trailed off. “I’m okay, and your mom will be, too.”
She straightened up and wiped her eyes, sniffing loudly. Then she tried to laugh. “Some tough vigilante I am, huh?”
“Crying doesn’t make you weak—and anybody who tells you differently is an idiot. Almost every hero—and villain—I’ve ever known has broken down at some point, myself included.”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes, looking for a sign I was lying to make her feel better.
“Really,” I said. “Though for the record, I only cry manly, heroic tears.”
“What’s the difference between those and regular tears?”
I grinned. “Absolutely nothing.”
She smiled back, and when she returned to her room to try and get some sleep, I felt confident I’d cheered her up at least a little. But she wouldn’t truly be happy until her mom was back, too.
I sunk into the couch cushions, staring up at the dark ceiling as I tried to imagine what Val was going through right now. I had no experience with possession, but by all accounts, it was a completely different power than mind-control, despite the similar results. At least with mind-control, you had a chance at fighting it. I’d never heard of anyone breaking free of a possession. I didn’t even know if Val was aware of what was happening, if she’d watched helplessly, trapped inside her own head, as I’d encountered her at the burning building.
I’d have to ask Julio. He’d been possessed once by She-Devil, Val’s late sister who’d had the same powers as their father. He could tell me what it was like, though I doubted it would be a pleasant conversation for either of us.
I stirred restlessly, my relief at finding Elisa safe tempered by my fear for Val. I honestly didn’t think I’d sleep, but the next thing I knew, I woke to the sound of my phone going off. Morning sunlight brightened the room as I sat up and blinked around blearily. Movement caught my eye from the doorway to the kitchen, and Julio came out, still in his pajamas. He frowned at the burner phone as I picked it up off the coffee table. The number that flashed across it didn’t belong to Moreen or anyone else I’d tried to contact on it.
“Did you give the number for this to anyone else?” I asked.
His face turned suitably serious. “No.”
I waited a beat for him to tell me not to answer, citing the risk that the call could be traced. But he didn’t, so I hit the answer button and cautiously raised it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Del Toro?”
“Dr. Quevedo.” The tension in my neck and shoulders drained. “What can I do for you? Calling to check up on me?”
“No, I—ah. I—I’ve been instructed to pass you a message.”
Immediately, all the tension came back. “Are you hurt? Who has you?”
Julio stepped closer, and I noticed the others coming out of the kitchen.
“No, I’m fine. I—” The doctor’s voice shook. “Whoever they are, they contacted me by phone, not in person. But they knew—they knew about me, and that I’d be able to get in touch with you.”
“What did they say?”
“That Ms. Belmonte—that is, the Black Valentine, that she’ll be breaking into a water treatment plant at midnight tonight. They gave me an address—”
“Let me get a pen and paper.” I looked around, and Julio snatched them up from a side table and passed them to me. “Okay, go ahead.”
I wrote the address down, asking him to repeat it when he stuttered.
“Can you tell me anything about the voice on the phone. Male or female? High or deep? Anyone you might have recognized?”
“Male, I think. The audio was poor. I’m afraid I can’t say more than that.” He took a deep breath. “Mr. Del Toro, I’m concerned. If they knew how to find me once…”
“They could do it again,” I finished. “I understand, and I’m sorry about all this. Why don’t you get out of town for a while? I’ll call you when I know it’s safe.”
“A-Are you sure? You could need a doctor, and if Ms. Belmonte finds out I left…”
“You’ll tell her I insisted,” I said firmly. “Your safety’s important, Doc. Pack your bags and get going.”
We said our goodbyes, and I gave a summary of the conversation to everyone now gathered in the living room. Elisa wore the same T-shirt and sweatpants as last night, while Jocelyn wore a silk night robe. Eddy was the only one fully dressed, his clothes covered by an apron that read “Mr. Good Lookin’ is Cookin’.” He was no doubt responsible for the delicious smell of eggs and biscuits coming from the kitchen.
“Obviously a trap,” he muttered.
“But can we afford to ignore it?” I replied. “If Val’s really there…”
“What would Mr. Lucifer want with a water treatment plant?” Blue Sparrow asked.
Julio crossed his arms. “Trying to poison the whole city, maybe. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“If we were talking about someone like Bloodbath or Toxic, I could see that, but it’s never been Mr. Lucifer’s MO.” Jocelyn looked at us for confirmation. “He’s always been solidly in organized crime, hasn’t he? Protection rackets, loan-sharking, that kind of thing.”
“Yeah, he’s usually in it for profit, not terror,” Eddy agreed, and he would know. He’d worked for Mr. Lucifer before following Val when she’d left the family business. “But just because we haven’t figured out how this could benefit him doesn’t mean it won’t.”
“Assuming it’s real and not a setup,” Julio said.
“But we’re going, right?” Elisa looked around at us, her hopeful expression slowly morphing into a dangerous glare. “Don’t tell me we’re not going.”
Julio ran a hand through his hair. “We
have to consider—”
My phone went off again. Julio glared at it.
“For a guy who’s supposed to be off the grid, you’re pretty popular,” he accused.
“It’s Moreen,” I said, glancing at the number before picking it up. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said. “Quick question. What were you doing last night?”
“Uh...”
She sighed noisily over the speaker. “So you were fighting Belmonte when she committed arson.”
I shouldn’t be surprised she’d found out about that. “Well…”
“And I’m guessing you found Freezefire and Blue Sparrow?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t confirm it over the phone.” I put her on speaker and set the phone onto the coffee table.
“Right,” she said. “Look, I figured you’d want to know the lab she burnt down is where the DSA was analyzing the samples from Dr. Sweet’s drug lab.”
My stomach contorted. As if Mr. Lucifer possessing Val wasn’t bad enough; he was working with Dr. Sweet while doing it.
“Tons of the drug were at that place,” I said, “And the DSA always keeps a backup of important samples—”
“—at a separate location, I know,” Moreen finished. “That got burnt to the ground, too. By Agent Lagarde.”
Jocelyn’s wings twitched. Julio reached out and put a steadying hand on her shoulder.
“So that sample you snuck into your pocket…” I started.
“Is the only one that still exists, yeah. I’m getting it examined now, but if Belmonte or Lagarde show up, I’m screwed. Could you…?”
I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. There was no way I’d sit here while she risked getting hurt uncovering Dr. Sweet’s plan. Plus, it was a chance to get to Mr. Lucifer’s target before he did, rather than playing catch up.
“Just tell me where to go.”
Chapter 7
For the record, I didn’t argue with Julio. He was in charge, remember? When he wanted to accompany me inside the lab, I simply brought up the risks of him getting arrested. When that didn’t persuade him, I pointed out the trouble Moreen would get in for harboring a fugitive, and he made the decision to stay in the van with Jocelyn and Eddy. But he also insisted I not go alone, which is how I ended up being guarded by my teenage daughter.
The White Knight & Black Valentine Series (Book 5): Superhuman Disaster ( Page 5